


Nightmare

by Yamz_xib



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Heavy Angst, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Pre-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, ladrien if you squint hard enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 11:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30020841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yamz_xib/pseuds/Yamz_xib
Summary: Hawkmoth akumatizes a child who experiences a nightmare once again, turning him into Sandboy 2.0, the original but with a little adjustment to his powers. When Marinette gets hit by this new power, will she be able to fight her new fear?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 1
Kudos: 89





	Nightmare

Hawkmoth stood in the familiar shadows of his lair, searching for his newest masterpiece, hoping that it will be the one to finally defeat his enemies. Over the past few days, he sensed negative emotions, but the strongest ones he could find were too weak to manipulate. He despised this. The people of Paris were fighting back his attacks. 

Yoga and anger management classes were filling up by the minute. Most Parisians were looking out for others, noticing little details to help out anyone in need. There were even beginning to be group counseling sessions that were being held around the city for people who have been akumatized; an attempt to make sure the victims did not feel guilty about what they did as villains.

The supervillain was just about to give up for the night when he felt it. The sense of pure fear. This feeling, however, felt familiar to him, like he had felt it before. _Sandboy, of course._ The little boy whose akumatization was caused by a nightmare he had was about to be transformed into a villain once again.

Hawkmoth summoned a butterfly to his open palm, turning the bright white butterfly into the dark purple and black akuma that everyone feared. “Fly away, my little akuma, and evillize him!” 

The akuma flew through the Parisian night sky towards the room of it’s target. The boy is sitting up in his bed, arms wrapped tightly around his pillow, trembling with tears streaming down his face. He had no idea of the akuma coming in through his window and entering his pillow. Suddenly he stopped trembling with fear as the purple mask hovered over his face.

“Sandboy 2.0, I am Hawkmoth, though you probably remember me. I am giving you the power to put people to sleep and experience their greatest fear the way you do, so they can understand your suffering. All I’m asking for in return are Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous. Do we have a deal?”

The boy did not hesitate to answer. “Yes, Hawkmoth.” Sandboy 2.0 transformed flying through the window on his pillow and out onto the streets of Paris.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Marinette sat on her bed, sketching her latest design into her sketchbook. She just couldn’t get that one little lily design to come out just right. Tikki hovered over her watching her work. Each new design amazed the kwami as much as the last. Everything today just seemed to be going just fine, or so Marinette thought. She did find it weird when Tikki suddenly flew under her desk.

The teenager looked up from what she was doing to go see what the kwami was up to. It wasn’t like her to just get up and go with no explanation and no one immediately coming in Marinette’s room. Unless a certain someone decided to pay her a visit. “Chat if you're there, you know you can come in.” No response. “Chat?” Still nothing. Marinette put her sketchbook down and looked around her room. Nothing.

“If this is some kind of prank, it isn’t funny!” Then she heard a sudden whoosh outside and then silence, which she found very strange. Those were usually followed by a thump on her balcony and a flirtatious alley chat climbing in. The realization came to her too late. “Tikki! Spot-”

That’s when the sand hit her and she fell into her endless nightmare. Except, her greatest fear wasn’t losing Adrien to another girl.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_The first time she was forced to live through it, she was Ladybug and Chat Noir was struck down by an akumatized victim. She didn’t care what their name was, who they were or what they were after. All she put her attention to was if he was okay._ **

**_He was in her arms and looked too weak to move, his chest rose and sank slowly as if his heartbeat was dying out. Tears streamed down the heroine’s face._ **

**_This was her fault. She wasn’t paying attention and he took too many hits for her this time. He always takes hits for her. She hates it with all her heart. It’s as if he didn’t care if he made it in the end, because she would be fine, she would live. But what he never took into consideration was how she would feel if she ever lost him._ **

**_“Don’t cry over me, Bugaboo,” her kitty whispered, his voice too weak to be clearly heard but his signature flirtiness shone through the obvious pain. He brought his hand to her face, wiping a tear away with a clawed finger. “You’ll fix this right up in the end. Everything will be fine.”_ **

**_Chat Noir took his last breath, his hand falling from her face, dying in her arms. He didn’t detransform, the akuma didn’t come after her or attack in her time of weakness, everything just stood still. That should’ve been a sign that none of this was real, that it was all a continuous nightmare, but she didn’t care to notice. She just cried until the scene faded, and the cycle started all over again._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_The thirty seventh time it happened, he was too out of focus to stop what was about to come._ **

**_They were still Ladybug and Chat Noir in this sequence but they were fighting Sentibug. Even though it wasn’t her, Chat still was hesitant to fight her head on. She just looked too much like Ladybug and he would never bring himself to fight his lady._ **

**_Ladybug obtained the keychain containing the feather and Chat had just summoned his cataclysm when she grabbed him. The two Ladybugs both had what the other wanted and Sentibug knew that the woman who she was a copy of would give it up, she just had to push. Sentibug was stronger than Chat Noir and was easily able to aim his hand containing the cataclysm right at himself._ **

**_“Hand it over or he goes!” she commanded. “And you don’t want to test me!”_ **

**_Ladybug didn’t believe her. Let’s just say she should’ve. “Are you so sure about that?” That was a mistake._ **

**_Sentibug shoved the hand to Chat’s side, making him destroy himself. Marinette just hoped she’d never get to see what happened and that if she did, it wouldn’t be as gruesome as her dream had shown._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_For number eighty one, she was Marinette. Well, an akumatized version of her and she reigned as Princess Justice. Her earrings were already off and she was on her way to drop them off to Hawkmoth, when an alley cat got in her way._ **

**_“Marinette, please,” he begged, sadness present in his eyes. She found it cute how he thought that she would give up just like that, especially to him. “This isn’t you! Please, just come back to me. We can fix whatever is bothering you.”_ **

**_She didn’t hesitate in her next move. “What’s bothering me, is_ ** **you** **_!” she hissed, swinging her scepter at him. Chat quickly jumped out of the way, only using his staff in defense. He didn’t want to hurt her, even if it came to it, he wouldn’t do it. She was his princess after all and he’d never do anything to hurt her._ **

**_Princess Justice cornered Chat Noir on the edge of the roof of a building. His staff was lost in the fight and he was now helpless against her. He didn’t know what to do next. Ladybug’s earrings were in her hands, he had no protection against the akuma, and he couldn’t get to her akumatized object, the lucky charm that was given to her by Adrien, tied around her neck._ **

**_“Snap out of it!” He was crying now, the tears he was trying so hard to keep back were spilling out of his eyes. He just wanted her back. “Mari, plea-”_ **

**_“I’M NOT MARINETTE!” She pushed him, almost making him fall off._ **

**_He looked straight in her eyes trying to find a little spark of Marinette in them, anything that would bring her back. “Princess?” She gave him one last nudge and he fell off the building, the hard ground below breaking his fall._ **

**_The thing that terrified the real life Marinette wasn’t her kitty dying, but the fact that she didn’t hesitate or even care about it in her dream._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Tikki didn’t know what to do. No matter what she did, Marinette wouldn’t wake up. The kwami had tried everything. She made loud noises, splashed her with water, poked her multiple times, shone a light in her face, and pulled her arms and legs. Tikki even slapped her owner across the face but still nothing. This villain was stronger than he was the first time around. And without Ladybug, Chat Noir wouldn’t be able to purify the akuma, assuming he hasn’t gotten hit with the sand yet. If he did, this would be bad for all of Paris. Everyone would be stuck in an endless sleep.

But overall, Tikki was scared for Marinette. She knew what her fear was, even if her chosen one didn't want to admit it. She knew of the frequent nightmares she had that woke her up during the night that the kwami had to constantly assure her were not real. Tikki just worried how she would handle this. Would this be too much for her?

Sweat started to beam on her forehead as tears streamed from her eyes. She kept mumbling whispers under her breath, her voice too low for her kwami to hear but she knew what she was saying. The same words she whispers on regular nightmare nights; the same cries for a certain someone who, in the dreams, was already gone. Too far gone to return to her. Tikki just watched, helplessly trying to figure out what exactly to do next

All she wished for was for this to be over, for her owner to be okay, for the answer to get her out of that miserable situation. And Tikki was running out of ideas and options.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_The hundred and tenth time, she didn’t see it happen, but she knew. She knew that he was already gone._ **

**_Hawkmoth found Ladybug at the Arc de Triomphe before she was able to get to the place Chat Noir contacted her last, the last message being sent fifteen minutes earlier and no replies to her new ones. He didn’t immediately fight her, which was strange to the heroine. She thought he’d take this opportunity to get her miraculous, but he didn’t. What he did do was fidget with his finger and then she realized what exactly had happened before Hawkmoth came to her._ **

**_He saw the expression on her face and he knew that she knew. Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill at any given moment, her hand moving to cover her mouth to hold back her sobs. There was a mixture of anger and sadness in her eyes, vengeance raging through her as she wanted to rip him apart for what he did._ **

**_“What’s the matter, Ladybug?” Hawkmoth asked as the living savior of Paris stood before him shaken at the new information of the fate of her beloved partner in justice. “_ ** **Chat** **_got your tongue?” He stopped twisting the ring on his finger and moved his hand so that it was visible._ **

**_Ladybug just stood there in shock, every muscle in her body tense making her unable to move. The tears that she was trying so hard to hold back started to spill over, streams flowed down her face. “What did you do to him?!” she demanded in between sobs, reaching for her yo-yo, preparing to fight if necessary._ **

**_The villain smiled at her still not moving from where he was standing. “I think you already know.” More tears started to stream down Ladybug’s face. She felt as if her heart was growing heavier by the second and it was what was holding her down, what was keeping her from pummeling Hawkmoth at that very second. He was the one to take him away from her._ **

**_“He mentioned you,” Hawkmoth said, noticing the behavior of his opponent. “I believe he said something along the lines of, ‘Where is M’Lady? Why isn’t she here with me?’ It’s really a shame he didn’t get to see you before-, well you know what.”_ **

**_Marinette was just grateful the nightmare ended there._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_Hawkmoth got her and her miraculous the five hundred ninety ninth time._ **

**_They were fighting at the Eiffel Tower once again. Ladybug was knocked off the tower but was able to grab on to something just in time. When she returned to the fight, they were on a different level and Hawkmoth had Chat cornered on the edge of the railing, his baton nowhere in sight. She threw her yo-yo at the villain, but it never hit it’s mark and turned the scene into a puff of smoke._ **

**An illusion** **_, Ladybug thought. She looked around where she was, trying to figure out where the fight was and whether or not it had moved to a different level of the tower or location, when someone had grabbed her from behind. Hawkmoth had gotten her and yanked her miraculous off, transforming Ladybug back into the bright and clumsy Marinette everyone knows and loves._ **

**_Chat Noir looked down from where he and Hawkmoth fought last. He had seen the event that had occurred before he arrived at the scene and if he was honest, he wasn’t the least bit surprised about the fact that Marinette was Ladybug. They were both similar in many ways, and he had to admit he was crushing on both and was relieved they were the same person._ **

**_“Hey, Grandpa!” he yelled as he dropped down to where they were. “Let go of the little lady. You wouldn’t want to know what would happen if she gets hurt.”_ **

**_Hawkmoth smiled at this. Chat Noir cared for Ladybug so much that he would do anything to make sure she’s safe. He couldn’t even recall every single time that he had taken hits for her. “Give me your miraculous and I’ll make sure of that.”_ **

**_The cat themed superhero hesitated on what to do next. If he gave Hawkmoth his miraculous, who knows what he would do with them, the wish that he would make. But if he didn’t, he wouldn’t know what Hawkmoth would do to Marinette._ **

**_“Chat, don't do it!” was all Marinette was able to get out before Hawkmoth put his hand over her mouth, causing her to put more of her effort into trying to get out of his grasp. She knew what Chat would do to protect her, the lengths that he would go to make sure that she was safe and sound. It frightened her to think of what he would do if even a hair on her head was misplaced._ **

**_If Chat Noir wasn’t angry before he was now. “I’d rather die than give you my ring and let something happen to her.” Marinette was relieved. He didn’t give in to the temptation. Deep down, Chat knew that she could handle herself. She was Ladybug and Marinette, his lady and his princess, one of his best friends and his partner in justice. To him, she could do anything she set her mind to. But right now, he doubted she could do much in her predicament._ **

**_Hawkmoth truly didn’t care what the outcome of the situation was unless it involved him with both miraculous. Never did the people he hurt in the process matter to him only his goal. To him this was just a game, something minor until he got what he truly wanted. “Would you now?” He picked up his cane and aimed the point at the Chat’s princess. “For the last time, give me your miraculous! We wouldn’t want to see what happens next, now do we?” There was nothing Marinette, real life or in dream, could do to stop what happened next._ **

**_Chat’s face was full of shock as he saw what Hawkmoth was inclined to do for the miraculous._ ** **Was he so driven to get them that he would hurt so many people without blinking an eye?** **_No matter what he thought, he just couldn’t stand to see Marinette get hurt. “Like I said before Hawkmoth, -” He walked backwards as he spoke, moving closer to the railing until he hit his back against it. “- I'd rather die than give you my ring and let something happen to her.” He glanced at Marinette to see her one last time._ **

**_Her eyes spoke loud and clear. “_ ** **Please don’t do it, Kitty. I need you here with me.** **_”_ **

**_His eyes responded. “_ ** **I know, Purr-incess. But I must.** **_”_ **

**_Chat Noir leaned back, eyes still locked with hers as Hawkmoth let her go, and he fell. Marinette tried to call onto her transformation as she ran to the edge, but her earrings were gone. She couldn’t save him, but instead watched helplessly as Chat Noir, her knight in shining leather, her partner in this responsibility that was forced on them, her best friend, her love, fell to the concrete below._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_On the seven-hundred and fifty first time, they found his lair. I think you know how the story goes. The fight was lasting longer than any of them expected and no one dared to use their powers so that their time would start to run out._ **

**_At one point, Ladybug was thrown across the room and was knocked unconscious for a few minutes. Once she woke up her vision was blurry, but she heard a scream that was shortly followed by something hitting the ground and the sound of a detransformation. She smiled thinking that Chat Noir did it. They finally defeated Hawkmoth, they were free. But when she looked up, Ladybug could make out a civilian lying bloody on the floor and Hawkmoth standing over the body with something round in his hands._ **

**_The heroine crawled her way over to the boy, not caring if she was in pain. She just had to get to him, she had to see him._ **

**_When she got to him, she sat up and examined him. The boy was beaten up badly with cuts and bruises covering his arms and some of his face. His blond hair was dyed red with the pool of blood in which he laid in and stuck to his forehead. His face seemed to be blurred out and looked familiar, like someone she knew but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it._ **

**_Ladybug picked him up with the little strength she had, placing him in her lap. She brushed his hair from his face, hoping to see his green eyes one more time, but they were shut. Tears were starting to mix in with the blood and the heroine then realized that she was crying. Looking up, she glared at Hawkmoth who was just standing there, doing nothing. He appeared to be shocked by who was in the savior of Paris’ arms but she didn’t care. All she cared about was_ ** **him** **_._ **

**_“How could you?”_ **

**_That was all she got to say to him._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Across the city, in his own home, Adrien was awake and finishing up some homework that he hadn’t gotten to yet due to the packed schedule that he had that day. Plagg sat on his desk next to his papers recounting the time when he destroyed the dinosaurs, much to Adrien’s doubt. Just as Plagg had finished the story, Adrien was finished with his work.

“I really did do it, ya know,” the kwami said, seeing the look of uncertainty on his owner’s face.

Adrien patted him on the head as he gathered everything up to put away in his bag. “Sure you did, buddy. And I’m free to do whatever I want.” He flashed a small smile at the kawmi, which he knew would annoy Plagg as it always did when he teased him.

And he was annoyed. “Ask Tikki, Fu or Ladybug. They’ll tell you.” His owner was a bit shocked at this information. How come Ladybug knew something about Plagg that she wouldn’t know about unless he told her personally. The only times that Ladybug had ever met Plagg was when Reflecktdoll and Style Queen were akumatized, and he knew that his kwami didn’t partake in small chat during his time with her, as he wouldn’t have had the time to do so. “Yeah. We were talking with Fu and he was saying how I’m too dangerous without an owner, giving examples. It was either after Style Queen or Sandboy. I don’t remember which one,” the kwami answered as if he knew what the boy was thinking.

“Wait, you saw Ladybug during Sandboy?”

“Yeah, and afterwards too. We were apologizing to Fu because me and Sugarcube left you and her by yourselves.”

Adrien lifted an eyebrow at the nickname that Plagg had pegged on Ladybug’s kwami. He wasn’t really the one to do that sort of stuff for anyone really. “Sugarcube is Tikki, right?”

Plagg glanced up at him knowing where he was going. “Yeah, but I haven’t called her that since Reflektdoll.”

Speaking of the akuma, Sandboy 2.0 arrived at the Agreste mansion. He flew in on his pillow, chanting an eerie lullaby as he passed by on the streets. “Sandboy 2.0 checked in, now endless nightmares can begin.” Adrien ran to the window to get a closer look at what was unfolding on the streets down below. Unlike the first time where people’s worst fears came to life, everyone on the street began dropping like flies.

“Plagg, claws out!”

Transforming just in time, he climbed out of his bedroom window, leaving before the akuma was close enough to notice. However he didn’t stay long enough to find out that his house was completely avoided.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Chat Noir looked around the city searching for someone, anyone who was awake. He searched everywhere. The Eiffel Tower; dead silent. Louvre Museum; knocked out. Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris; fast asleep. The Arc de Triomphe; nothing. Tuileries Garden; full of peaceful silence. Montmartr; what do you think? He couldn’t find even one person. He just hoped that Ladybug was somehow still around to fight this battle.

However something strange then occurred. Chat started to think of someone else. Someone that he held dear. Someone who was there for him when no one else was, who he would put his life in his hands. Someone that he began to trust with his deepest secrets.

_Marinette._

At that moment, Chat was sure that he had never run as fast as he did when he went to check on his princess. He just had to make sure that she was alright. She just had to be fine. And if she wasn’t, he wouldn’t know what he would do.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_Number one-thousand two-hundred and nineteen was one of the worst ones, but so many were just like it. So many of these dreams, these nightmares that she’s trapped in that just never stop, are so similar to each other yet so different. The pain, however, only grew. So many times she was forced by her own mind to watch it, akuma or no akuma. So many fears that she cannot escape. So many nights longing for the only one she wants to be near when they happen, the one who is the subject of all of this._ **

**_They were just sitting at the top of the Eiffel Tower after patrol one night. No akumas, no crimes. Just them and the Parisian night sky to keep them company, even though the other was all that they needed to not feel alone. Chat was his usual self, puns and flirts flying everywhere, though sometimes he would stop and just contribute to the conversation normally before throwing more into the mix later on. Ladybug was trying her best not to hit him over the head with her yo-yo like she has done many times before, while also,_ ** **_hiding a chuckle and a blush every so often, hoping that he wouldn’t notice but also praying that he did,_ and ****_conversing with her partner._ **

**_All of a sudden, a bang was heard from beneath them, however there was no explanation for it. There was no one there but them and they would’ve gotten an alert. It all just felt_ ** **wrong** **_. Soon the tower started to collapse._ **

**_Ladybug caught onto a streetlight below before the tower was able to completely fall on top of her. She turned around to see if Chat Noir made it as well, but she couldn’t see him. So the heroine sat there, waiting for any sign of him surviving. He was more than capable of making it out of there on his own. He definitely was aware of the situation. But all hope was lost when she spotted the black leather under the rubble._ **

**_She had never run faster in her life._ **

**_When she arrived, it was too late. After Ladybug had taken him out from beneath the Eiffel Tower she knew his fate but she didn’t want to believe it until she saw it herself. And since there was no akuma, she couldn’t use her lucky charm to save him and she wasn’t going to risk using her powers for her own reasons. The little piece of consciousness that she had left didn’t want to go through with this. She’s been through this too many times before, Marinette didn’t need to see it again. She knew - god did she know - he was far gone. He was always gone. And there was never anything she could do about it._ **

**_It ended with him in her arms with rain starting to pour down on them hiding her tears as they mixed in with the heavy drops falling from the sky._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_Four-thousand four-hundred and forty-four unforgiving nightmares later, and_ ** **he** **_finally shows up._ **

**_Marinette was alone on her balcony checking on her flowers when he dropped down on her railing. He was just like how he was when she saw him last._ **

**_“Chat … Blanc?” The black leather was replaced with a cold white, his eyes a chilling, electric blue, a contrast of his bright, green eyes. These eyes looked cruel and empty as they were deprived of their sparkle that shined as bright as a thousand stars. His messy, golden locks were deprived of the sun and left a snowy white. Marinette always hoped she would never have to see him again. It was a blessing this curse had given to her but had snatched right back._ **

**_“Hey,” he replied with his usual tone however the smirk that was always present on his face was absent today. “I see the princess is still in her tower.” Chat Blanc dropped from his place on the railing and stood in front of her, their faces staying only a few inches apart._ **

**_Marinette was too shocked to come up with a good response right away. “How - wha - who-?” A finger was soon pressed on her lips, silencing her before she continued in an endless stutter._ **

**_Blanc could sense that there was fear lingering in her eyes. “You don’t have to worry about that, princess. Everything is fine. I just got into a little trouble.” His hand moved to brush a strand of her hair that got loose from her pigtails behind her ear. Cold, chilling blue met warm, ocean blue. “I just need…”_ **

**_“NO!” She tried to pull away from his grasp but his other arm was wrapped tightly around her waist._ **

**_“Princess, please. I need to fix this.” The more she struggled the stronger his hold on her was. So she gave in. It was all she could do to make this dream stop and move on to the next one. She just couldn’t see him like this._ **

_**He thanked her as he removed the earrings, but he stayed the way he was. The dream still continued. There was still enough here to torture her just a little bit more. As if everything else that has occurred before wasn't enough to do so. Was this punishment for trying to end it early?** _

**_Chat Blanc looked into her eyes and before she knew it his lips were on hers. She secretly always wanted him to do that, but not here, not like this. His lips were rough and wild while she tried to keep things soft and slow. They didn’t mix well. They didn’t match._ **

**_The balcony scene dissolved when he left with her miraculous, hopes, dreams and heart._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_Nine-thousand nine-hundred and ninety nine. Marinette made it this far. She had seen so much and felt more pain than anyone has felt in a lifetime. Why wasn’t it over? Why is she still here? Where is he? What’s going on in the real world?_** **What are they going to do without Ladybug?** ** _But right now, none of that matters._** **_Right now, she is going to reveal herself. Marinette had been wanting to do this for sometime now and all she could hope for was that this version of it didn’t end as badly as all the other times._**

**_She waited in her room, sitting on her chaise sketching her latest design. A while later, a shadow appeared in the corner of her room. “Hi Kitty.” He stepped out from the darkness, a cheshire grin spread across his face as he made his way over to her. Chat stopped in his tracks as he registered a nervous look on her face._ **

**_“Is there something on your mind, Princess?” She looked into his eyes and noticed a light worry glazing his eyes. Marinette decided right then and there that she was going to go through with it. She had to._ **

**_“Yeah-um, actually I do. I-uh, I’ve been wanting to tell you something for a while now. But I don’t know how you’ll handle it.” She heard a small chuckle come from the cat-themed hero._ **

**_“You don’t have to be so nervous, Mari.” Chat sat down on the chaise in front of the girl. “Just say what’s on your mind.”_ **

**_She got up from her spot to move in front of him. “This is something big so just don’t, ya know, freak out, okay?” Marinette moved a few steps back, her gaze still on him as she called for her transformation. A sorrowful frown soon replaced Marinette’s bright smile as she saw the dissapoint creep on Chat Noir’s face. This was not going to be like the other times._ **

**_He stood up from his spot and started to pace in front of her. Ladybug just stood there watching him, her anxiety slowly rising as each step echoed across the room. None of them knew what to do next, so this continued for the next ten minutes. Step, step, step, step, pause, turn, repeat. Step, step, step, step, pause, turn, repeat. Step, step, step, step, pause, turn, repeat. Over and over and over again, until she couldn’t take his silence anymore._ **

**_“If you’re going to say something,” she cried as she transformed back to her civilian self, “then just say it. Please, Kitty, I’m getting really anxious. What’s wrong?”_ **

**_He stopped in his tracks and looked in her bluebell eyes that were glazing over with tears. “It’s you.” Single drops were now falling from her eyes, running their way down her cheeks only to fall to the floor below. The girl didn’t believe what she just heard come from her partner’s mouth._ **

**_“I thought you wanted to know. You said that you didn’t care who it was under the mask because she would still be me. Now you just changed your mind, just like that? Because it’s_ ** **me** **_?”_ **

**_“I’m sorry to burst your bubble,_ ** **Marinette** **_, but I wasn’t the one being led on.” What he said didn’t hurt her, but what he called her. He never said her name, only when they were in public eyes if he just happened to be saving her from something. Other than that it was Mari, Princess, or any other silly nickname he could come up with. Chat Noir called her everything_ ** **but** **_Marinette. “You would just let me come in here and we would both hang out and have fun and you knew it was me. I’ve opened up to you about so many things, so many secrets that no one knows and then you would go on to pretend that you didn’t know any of it when you were_ ** **her** **_. Now you expect me to be happy that I now know? For someone who comes up with really good plans, this one didn’t turn out so well.”_ **

**_He went to the ladder that led up to her bed, making his way to the skylight. “And to think I was starting to like you.” Marinette stood still as he left through her balcony._ **

**_How was it that she could be so stupid about this? She’s seen this happen so many times, she should be fine. But why was it that this one hurt so much more than the others did? Because it’s difficult to mourn someone who is still alive._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Chat Noir landed on her balcony a few moments later, although it took him longer than he wanted as he had to make a detour due to Sandboy 2.0. He scanned the area to make sure that no one was around and walked over to her skylight.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Hawkmoth was growing restless. Ladybug and Chat Noir were nowhere to be found and Sandboy 2.0 had not seen either of them. They were going to be stuck like this unless Ladybug came back. It was the only time he wished that they both weren’t defeated.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_Marinette was on her ten thousandth nightmare. All she wished for was an escape from this. For someone, literally_ ** **anyone** **_, to lift this curse from her. She’s been through so much, seen so many things and has relived too much pain. She’d stop all of this if she could, but she was helpless. Without Ladybug, no one would be able to stop this. All hope was lost._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

He entered the familiar room, landing on top of the familiar bed. “Princess? Are you down there?” No answer. Chat Noir frantically stumbled down her ladder on his way to find her as quickly as possible. That’s when he laid eyes on her.

She didn’t look like everyone else that he had seen when he searched through Paris. She was drenched in sweat, her dark, midnight hair sticking to her forehead and the back of her neck. Marinette’s eyes were squeezed shut as if she were bracing for something, but the black cat couldn’t tell what for. Her body was almost closing in on itself, stuck in a fetal position. It looked as if she was beaten up by something and she was writhing in pain. Whatever her nightmare was about, he knew that it was something that he could never imagine.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_This dream was similar to those nights. She was all too familiar with those. Not the ones that contained her normal nightmares that this curse was using against her, but the ones where he would come. Those were the nights she actually looked forward to._ **

**_She was sitting in her room, sketching in her sketchbook. It was the same design that she was working on before she had fallen into this curse, and Tikki was also in the same position behind her admiring her work. Marinette heard a rush of wind on her balcony, the exact same sound as when she was awake, Tikki moving quickly to hide herself, but this time she heard the light sound of his landing on her ceiling._ **

**_He didn’t immediately come inside, so she made her way up onto the roof._ **

**_There he was, leaning against the ledge. His face was full of concern._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

  
  


His face was full of concern. Chat shook the sleeping girl lightly to see if a little nudge would awaken her, but it worked to no avail. He called for her and her face stayed the way it was, but it softened a bit at his words. He doubted she heard him, but she might know that he’s there with her.

He moved a strand of hair away from her face and moved her so that she was laying down on her back. The poor girl wouldn’t stop shaking.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_The poor girl wouldn’t stop shaking. The night was colder than usual, the air stinging her warm skin as she made her way over to him. She leaned on the space next to Chat, the cool metal of the ledge sending shivers down her spine when her arms made contact._ **

**_He turned to look at her. Chat Noir’s eyes sparkled at the sight of her. “Good evening, Purr-incess.” His voice was flirtatious but it stung with sadness. Marinette thought that he was just upset about something, perhaps Ladybug, so she placed a hand onto the sleeve of his arm. He looked down at the hand and a sad smile shone on his face._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

A sad smile shone on his face. He looked at his princess on the floor. It was ironic that she looked as beautiful as ever as the moonlight made the beads of sweat on her shine like sparkles on her skin. The alley cat just had to think. ‘ _What do I do?_ ’

He wasn’t Ladybug though. The answers to what seem to be unsolvable problems never came easy to him. He wished his Lady was there by his side helping him. But alas, she was nowhere in sight.

Chat Noir reached for Marinette’s hand and held it in his own.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_Chat Noir reached for Marinette’s hand and held it in his own. “Mari, I need to tell you something.”_ **

**_“You know you can tell me anything, Kitty.” Marinette flashed him a smile, but this was one that he didn’t return. Her face fell as he let go of her hand and looked up to see her face._ **

**_“I can’t keep doing this.”_ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

“I can’t keep doing this.” He needed to find a solution and fast. Time was slipping and each second that Chat Noir wasted just sitting there was a second more that Marinette was trapped in her own living hell. He inched closer to her.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_He inched closer to her. Marinette thought that this was it. This would be a good one. This would be her liberation. Oh, how wrong she was._ **

**_“I have to stop seeing you. I just can’t do it anymore.”_ **

**_She just stood there in shock. She turned away from him and sighed._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

She turned away from him and sighed. If Chat was being honest with himself, that hurt. A lot. He grabbed her and lifted the girl into his lap, the crook of his arm supported her head. He turned her head so she could face him.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_He turned her head so she could face him. “Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoyed hanging out with you. Sometimes it was the only thing I looked forward to. But…”_ **

**_“I’m not_ ** **her** **_.” The hero was now the one to turn away._ **

_**“That’s not what I was going to say.” She relaxed the shoulders that she didn’t realize were tightened.** _

**_They tightened again as she muttered, “You were thinking it.” The girl started to turn to make her way to him, but he started to speak again._ **

**_“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Her kitty crossed his arms around his chest and looked straight into her eyes._ **

**_“I_ ** **hate** **_seeing you get hurt.”_ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

“I _hate_ seeing you get hurt.” He didn’t know what to do. He was a failure. All of Paris would now sleep for an eternity because of him. “All I want to do is see you happy.”

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_“All I want to do is see you happy.” His emerald eyes were soft as they bore into hers. The girl was frozen in her position. She couldn’t believe a single word that came out of his mouth._ **

**_“But I’m happy with_ ** **you** **_, Kitty. Do you not see that?”_ **

**_He turned away from here, leaping onto the railing. He looked as if he was about to leave her there all by herself. This time, however, it would be for good. “I do see that and that’s the problem. I care about you way too much, Mari.”_ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

“I care about you too much, Mari.” The alley cat chuckled as he looked at his princess in his arms. This tore his heart into pieces and he wasn’t sure what would fix it back again. He didn’t seem to know a lot of things lately.

Chat Noir was helpless. He was lost. But there was something that he could do.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_Marinette was helpless. She was lost. But there was something that she could do._ **

**_The girl grabbed the hero’s hand before he could make his leave and the action turned him to her. She placed the hand that wasn’t already holding him on his cheek._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

He placed the hand that wasn’t already holding her on her cheek. He lifted her face up towards him.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_She pulled his face down towards her. Their lips crashed against each other._ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Their lips crashed against each other. ‘ _Please work!_ ’

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_‘Please work!’_ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

‘I’m begging you …’

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_‘I’m begging you …’_ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

‘Please!’

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_‘Please!’_ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

‘Just stay with me!’

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_‘Just stay with me!’_ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

‘Oh won’t you please stay.’

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

**_‘Oh won’t you please stay.’_ **

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

_**She felt him move closer to her, deepening the kiss. All Marinette wanted was to make sure that he stayed there with her. Deep down she knew that she couldn’t live without him. Even if he wanted to leave and go as far away from her as possible, Chat couldn’t live without her either. She wasn’t going to force him to stay, but if she could keep him here, even if it was just for only a few more seconds, she would never hesitate to take the chance to do so. He meant too much to her. The thought of losing him was something that she never liked, and neither did that coming to a reality.** _

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

He felt her move closer to her, deepening the kiss. All Chat Noir wanted was to make sure that she stayed there with him. Deep down he knew that he couldn’t live without her. Even if she wanted to leave and go as far away from him as possible, Mari couldn’t live without him either. He wasn’t going to force her to stay, but if he could keep her here, even if it was just for only a few more seconds, he would never hesitate to take the chance to do so. She meant too much to him. The thought of losing her was something that he never liked, and neither did that coming to a reality.

He pulled away from her, wondering if she did in fact regain her consciousness or if her kissing him back was just his imagination playing cruel, cruel jokes on him. Chat looked down at his princess. Her eyes began to open slowly. All of a sudden they snapped open, looking bloodshot and frantically looking around the room.

Then cool, bluebell eyes meet warm, emerald ones and all the fright that was in her before disappeared. She knew she was safe now. The horror that haunted her before couldn’t reach her here for now. He was there with her, and for now, that was all that mattered.


End file.
